Your “It’s Almost As Anger-Causing As Impeachment!1!1!!” Wednesday Evening Open Thread

NFL Noise:

• Oh, it’s all noise today, as most football sites are obsessed with the news of Colin Kaepernick getting a workout this Saturday.
  • nfl.com points out the league set the date & did the prep.
    • And that Kaepernick’s workout will be run by scouting combine personnel and former NFL coaches.
    • This workout lies outside the collusion settlement reached earlier year.
  • espn.com writes about how this may all just be a smoke screen, as Kaep’s reps wanted the workout to be on a Tuesday, so interested coaches could attend.
    • By having it on Saturday, it means that only token representation can or will attend.
      • The Cowboys & Dolphins have expressed interest in sending actual humans to the event.
  • Florio points out that the league announced the workout before telling Kaep about their plans.
    • He dives deeper into conspiracy theory, noting that Kaepernick’s representatives initially expressed concern that it was or could be a P.R. stunt.
      • I’m just going to use a block quote for the big piece:

[I]t feels like this workout is far less about getting Kaepernick placed on a team and far more about creating the impression that the NFL is trying to help him get a job, without really helping him get a job.

And while it’s entirely possible that the league is pulling a P.R. stunt, the more accurate assessment may be that the league is concerned that Kaepernick eventually will file a second grievance alleging collusion and/or retaliation arising from his prior collusion grievance, which reportedly was settled for payment in the range of $1 million and $10 million.

• And it seems many Twitter users read Seamus’ motivational piece today, because if they didn’t have an opinion on the start of the impeachment hearings, they were motivated to have an opinion on the topic.

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• Non-Kaep news:
  • The flex scheduling has begun in earnest:
    • Week 12:
      • Packers-Niners moved to primetime; Seahawks-Eagles moved to 1:00PM ET
    • Week 16:
      • A Saturday triple-header on the NFL Network (TSN in Canada):
        • Texans at Bucs – 1:00 ET
        • Bills-Patriots – 4:30 ET
        • Rams-Niners – 8:15 ET
  • The “blue ribbon” panel to decide the NFL’s 100 Greatest players (& 10 best coaches) was revealed today, and the schedule for announcing said team was laid out.
    • The reveals will start Friday, November 22 – to commemorate the Kennedy assassination, no doubt – and continue for six weeks.
    • The 26-member panel contains a broad, generally acceptable survey of football people, but what I found surprising are the mere four former players they used in the process:
      • Dan Fouts: Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and veteran broadcaster
      • Ron Jaworski: Former NFL quarterback and veteran broadcaster
      • Ozzie Newsome: Pro Football Hall of Famer and two-time Super Bowl Champion General Manager
      • Art Shell: Pro Football Hall of Famer, former Head Coach and two-time Super Bowl Champion

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL:
  • Leafs at Islanders – 7:00PM | Sportsnet
  • Sens at Devils – 7:00PM | Sportsnet360
  • Capitals at Flyers – 7:30PM | NBCSN
  • Stars at Flames – 9:30PM | Sportsnet1
  • Blackhawks at Golden Knights – 10:00PM | NBCSN

• NBA:
  • Clippers at Rockets – 7:30PM | ESPN / TSN
  • Warriors at Lakers – 10:00PM | ESPN
  • Raptors at Trail Blazers – 10:00PM | TSN

• NCAA:
  • Pigskin:
    • Bowling Green at Miami (Ohio) – 8:00PM | ESPNU
    • Northern Illinois at Toledo – 8:00PM | ESPN2
  • Hoops:
    • Villanova at Ohio State – 7:00PM | FS1
    • Purdue at Marquette – 9:00PM | FS1

• Wrasslin’:
  • AEW – 8:00PM | TNT / TSN2
  • NXT – 8:00PM | USA (Friday in Canada)

Tonight’s TV:

• The 53rd Annual CMA Awards: ABC, 8:00 PM
  • If you enjoy hot blondes singing songs, then Keith Urban has a preview of his Grey Cup show for you tonight.

• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: 10:00PM | FXX
  • Season 14, Episode 8 – “Paddy’s Has a Jumper”
    • Trapped inside Paddy’s with a suicidal jumper on the roof, the gang wonders if it should bother intervening.

• South Park: 10:00PM | Comedy Central / CTV Comedy Network
  • Season 23, Episode 7 – “Board Girls”
    • The Annual Strong Woman Competition pushes everyone to their limits. An even stronger woman causes big problems for PC Principal. Cartman, Stan, and the rest of the boys meet their match when some of the girls join their board gamers club.

That’s it for me. I’m off to the #contentmines to craft some magic, but I’ll be back Saturday night for broadcast map previews & to politely complain about who replaced Don Cherry. (It’s gonna be Burke, isn’t it.)